Carburetor constant level chamber



April 14, 1959 o. A. HEQNING 2,882,029

CARBURETOR CONSTANT LEVEL CHAMBER 2 Sheets-Sheet -1 Fi-Id Dec. 17, 1956 FIG. I.

INVENTOR. OTTO A. HENNING ATTORNEY April 14, 1959 o. A. HENNING CARBURETOR CONSTANT LEVEL CHAMBER 2' Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 17, 1956 h I I l I I I I l II INVENTOR. OTTO A. HENNING ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 14, 1959 United States Patent Ofiice CARBURETOR CONSTANT LEVEL CHAMBER Otto A. Henning, Fern Park, Fla., assignor to ACE Industries, Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 17, 1956, Serial No. 628,781

15 Claims. (Cl. 261-72) This invention relates to carburetors for internal combustion enginesfor automobiles and more particularly to carburetors provided withfuel bowls in which the fuel level is maintained substantially constant by means of a float controlled fuel inlet valve.

his well known to those skilled in the art that the surging of fuel in the fuel bowl, due to tilting, acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle, causes the float to rise and fall within the bowl and toactuate the fuel inlet valve to vary the fuel level in the bowl, thereby adversely affecting the operation of the carburetor and the engine.

It is, therefore, an object of the presentv invention to provide a carburetor which is operable during tilting, acceleration, or deceleration to furnish a sufficient quantity of fuel to the engine to satisfy its requirements.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dual carburetor having a pair of main fuel passages leading upwardly from a common fuel reservoir or bowl to their respective mixture conduits, the passages being inclined upwardly and rearwardly from the line of travel of the vehicle to supply additional fuel to the engine during rapid acceleration of the vehicle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fuel reservoir or bowl vhaving two fuelinlet valves and two floats for actuating same, the floats being mounted for pivotal movement in vertical planes normal to the line of travel of'tlie vehicle, whereby rearward surging of the fuel in the fuel bowl, due to rapid acceleration, will'cause one of the floats to fall and open its respective inlet valve.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a duel carburetor having two identical valve actuating floats pivotally mounted in a symmetrical fuel reservoir, the floats being normally aligned one in front of the other on the vertical center plane of the reservoir when the fuel is ata'predetermined level, whereby surging of the fuel in the-bowl transversely of theline of vehicle travel does not cause pivotalmovement of the floats. Heretofore', in the use of a dual carburetor having a single valve actuating float, rapid vehicle acceleration around a curve in one direction wouldopen the inlet valve and in the other direction would close the valve, thereby supplying either too much or too little fuel to the engine and sometimes causing one group of cylinders to choke out.

The invention embodies other novel features, details of construction and arrangement of parts which are hereinafter set forth in the specification and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

standing of the invention, the carburetor illustrated is of the dual downdraft type provided with an air horn 6 leading to a pair of mixture conduits 11 having outlets 12 for communication with an engine intake manifold (not shown) adapted to supply fuel to two groups of engine cylinders. A choke valve 13 is provided inthe air horn 6 and is actuated by a conventional automatic control mechanism enclosed in a housing 14. Throttle valves 16 are disposed within their respective outlets 12 and fixed on a shaft 17 which is operatively connected to an accelerator pedal for manual operation to control the delivery of the fuel mixture to the intake manifold.

A constant level fuel reservoir 18 is provided adjacent the mixture conduits 11 to receive liquid fuel through a fuel line 19 from an engine operated pump (not shown). To control the flow of fuel to the reservoir to maintain a constant fuel level xx therein, a pair of needle valves 21 and 22 are provided in the fuel inlets at opposite ends of the reservoir and disposed in diagonal corners thereof. A pair of floats 23 and 24 are disposed side by side within the reservoir and secured to levers 26 and 27, respectively, pivotally mounted on pivot pins 28 and 29, respectively. The needle valves 21 and 22 are engaged and actuated by their respective levers 26 and 27 to control the flow of fuel through the fuel inlets into the reservoir responsive to movements of their respective floats.

A pair of fuel metering orifices (not shown) are prov vided within the lower part of the reservoir for the flow of fuel into and through their respective main fuel passages 31 and nozzles 32 and thence into their respective mixture conduits 11. The flow of fuel through the metering orifices is controlled by metering rods 33 to enrich the mixture either when the throttle valves 16 are substantially opened or when the manifold suction drops excessively, as shown and described in my Patent No. 2,728,563. Idling fuel is supplied from the main fuel passages 31 and metering tubes 34 through idling passages (not shown) terminating at the usual idle ports adjacent and posterior to their respective throttle valves 16 when the latter are in their closed positions, as shown and described in my Patent No. 2,728,563.

InFig. 3 in the drawings, the arrow thereon indicates the position of the carburetor with respect to the line of travel of the vehicle, whereby fuel in the reservoir 18 will flow upwardly and real-wardly through the inclined main fuel passages 31 and into the mixture conduits 11 in increased quantities during rapid acceleration of the vehicle. During rapid acceleration, a surge of fuel rearwardly in the bowl acts to lift the float 24 to close its valve 21 and to lower the float 23 to open its valve 22.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 2, it will be noted that the floats 23 and 24 are centrally located on the vertical center plane of the fuel bowl 18 and disposed one in front of the other in alignment with the line of vehicle travel; and also that the floats and bowl are substantially symmetrical on opposite sides of said plane, whereby tilting of the bowl from a horizontal plane to the planes y-y or zz of Fig. 4 does not cause the fuel therein to raise or lower either of the floats about their pivot pins 28 and 29.

By mounting the floats for pivotal movement in parallel vertical planes normal to the line of travel and centrally of the symmetrical fuel bowl, the floats rise and fall simultaneously responsive to variations in fuel level when the bowl is in its normal horizontal plane; or tilted transversely from the line of travel of the vehicle to maintain the fuel level constant. This feature is of particular importance in dual carburetors where each mixture conduit supplies a fuel mixture to its respective While a two-barrel carburetor has been shown and described, it is apparent that the fuel bowl and float mechanism could be applied to a one or four-barrel carburetor, and that other changes and modification could be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a fuel system for an internal combustion engine for a vehicle, a pair of coplanar mixture conduits positioned normal to the line of travel of a vehicle, a fuel reservoir of substantially equal fuel capacity on opposite sides of a vertical central plane therethrough normal to the plane of said conduits, a pair of floats mounted side by side for independent vertical movements in planes normal to said central plane, a pair of inlet valves in said reservoir actuated by their respective floats, and main fuel passages inclined upwardly throughout their length from the bottom of said reservoir to their respective conduits in the direction of the line of travel.

2. A fuel system according to claim 1 wherein, said floats are mounted for pivotal movement about coplanar horizontal axes parallel to said central plane, whereby said reservoir may be tilted transversely of said central plane without causing vertical movement of either of said floats.

3. A fuel system according to claim 1 wherein, said floats are mounted for pivotal movement about coplanar horizontal axes parallel to and equidistantly spaced from said central plane, whereby said reservoir may be tilted transversely of said central plane without causing vertical movement of either of said floats.

4. In a fuel system for internal combustion engines for vehicles, a pair of mixture conduits arranged in a comm-on vertical plane, a fuel reservoir, a pair of main fuel passages inclined upwardly from said reservoir to their respective conduits, a pair of fuel inlet valves in said reservoir, and a pair of independent floats operatively engaging their respective valves to maintain a substantially constant fuel level in said reservoir during tilting of the reservoir parallel to said plane.

5. In a fuel system for internal combustion engines for vehicles, a pair of mixture conduits arranged in a common vertical plane, a fuel reservoir, a pair of main fuel passages inclined upwardly from said reservoir to their respective conduits, a pair of fuel inlet valves in said reservoir, and a pair of separately operating floats operatively engaging their respective valves to maintain a substantially constant fuel level in said reservoir during tilting of the reservoir parallel to said plane, said floats being mounted for pivotal movement about parallel axes normal to said vertical plane.

6. In a fuel system for internal combustion engines for vehicles, a pair of mixture conduits arranged in a conmon vertical plane, a fuel reservoir, a pair of main fuel passages inclined upwardly from said reservoir to their respective conduits, a pair of fuel inlet valves in said reservoir, and a pair of floats operatively engaging their respective valves to maintain a substantially constant fuel level in said reservoir during tilting of the reservoir parallel to said plane, said floats being mounted side by side for independent pivotal movement about parallel axes normal to said vertical plane.

7. In a fuel system for internal combustion engines for vehicles, a pair of mixture conduits arranged in a common vertical plane, a fuel reservoir, a pair of main fuel passages inclined upwardly from said reservoir to their respective conduits, a pair of fuel inlet valves in said reservoir, and means to prevent fuel from entering said reservoir through said inlet valve during tilting of said carburetor in said vertical plane, said means comprising a pair of floats operatively engaging their respective valves to maintain a substantially constant fuel level in said reservoir, said floats being mounted side by side for pivotal movement about parallel axes normal to said vertical plane.

8. In a fuel system for internal combustion engines for vehicles, a pair of mixture conduits arranged in a common vertical plane, a fuel reservoir, a pair of main fuel passages inclined upwardly from said reservoir to their respective conduits, a pair of fuel inlet valves in said reservoir, and a pair of floats operatively engaging their respective valves to maintain a substantially constant fuel level in said reservoir during tilting of the reservoir parallel to said plane, said floats and reservoir being substantially symmetrical about and disposed on a com mon vertical central plane normal to the first said vertical plane when the fuel in said reservoir is at a predetermined level.

9. In a fuel system for internal combustion engines for vehicles, a pair of mixture conduits arranged in a common vertical plane, a fuel reservoir, a pair of main fuel passages inclined upwardly from said reservoir to their respective conduits, a pair of fuel inlet valves in said reservoir, and a pair of floats operatively engaging their respective valves to maintain a substantially constant fuel level in said reservoir during tilting of the reservoir parallel to said plane, said floats and reservoir being substantially symmetrical about and disposed on a common vertical central plane normal to the first said vertical plane when the fuel in said reservoir is at a predetermined level, said common vertical central plane being centrally disposed between said conduits.

10. In a fuel system for an internal combustion engine for a vehicle movable in a forward line of travel, a pair of mixture conduits in a common plane normal to the line of travel of the vehicle, a fuel reservoir having a pair of fuel inlets at diagonal corners thereof, main fuel passages inclined upwardly and rearwardly from said reservoir to their respective conduits, a pair of identical floats mounted side by side in said reservoir for independent pivotal movement. toward and away from each other in vertical planes parallel to said common plane, and valves in said fuel inlets actuated by their respective floats to maintain the fuel in said reservoir at a predetermined constant level.

11. In a fuel system, a float bowl having inlet valves in diagonal corners thereof, and a pair of floats pivotally mounted in side by side relationship for vertical movement in parallel planes to actuate their respective valves to maintain a constant fuel level in the bowl.

12. In a fuel system, a float bowl having inlet valves in diagonal corners thereof, and a pair of floats pivotally mounted in side by side relationship for vertical movement in parallel planes to actuate their respective valves to maintain a constant fuel level in the bowl, said bowl and floats being formed and 'arranged whereby tilting of said bowl along said planes does not impart movement to the floats.

13. In a fuel system, a float bowl having inlet valves in diagonal corners thereof, and a pair of floats pivotally mounted in side by side relationship for vertical move ment in parallel planes to actuate their respective valves to maintain a constant fuel level in the bowl, said floats being centrally disposed with the bowl and pivotally connected to opposite ends of the bowl.

14. In a fuel system, a fuel bowl having float pivot pins at opposite ends thereof, a pair of floats. substantially equidistantly spaced between and pivotally connected to their respective pivot pins when the bowl is filled with fuel to a predetermined level whereby tilting of said bowl in one direction does not cause pivotal movement of said floats, and fuel inlet valves actuated by their respective floats.

15. In a carburetor, a fuel reservoir substantially symmetrical on both sides of a vertical plane running in the normal direction of motion of said carburetor, dischargemeans in the bottom of said reservoir, and a pair of floats pivotally mounted with respect to said reservoir at points substantially equi-distant from, and on opposite sides of, said plane, said floats being substantially equidistantly spaced from a vertical plane through said discharge means and normal to the first said plane, each of said floats independently actuating different inlet valves to admit fuel to said reservoir when said floats are depressed below a normal fuel operating level, whereby 5 under normal operating conditions a substantially constant head of fuel is maintained above said discharge means irrespective of normal tilting of said carburetor in any direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

